Aviva paid 1,534 critical illness (CI) claims worth more than £136 million to customers during 2010.

The average payment was more than £89,000, an increase of £10,000 compared to 2009.

Aviva also paid out a further £272 million in life insurance to the families of loved ones who have died. This amounts to more than £400 million paid to customers and their families through Aviva’s life insurance and critical illness policies in 2010.

The proportion of CI claims paid is Aviva’s highest to date and the largest monetary value.

Cancer remains the most common cause of critical illness claims at 68%, followed by heart attack (9%), stroke (7%) and multiple sclerosis (6%).

Richard Verdin, protection director at Aviva, said: “As we’ve seen previously